32 Two millet and wheat seedlings
Like begets like, and a mouse's son knows how to dig holes.
Sun Shan, the magistrate of Taicang, stood outside Sima Hong's villa for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.
His drooping eyebrows made his naturally bitter face look even more miserable.
He was originally a farmer, but he became the magistrate of Taicang because His Majesty passed through his village during a campaign and found that his crops were quite good. From then on, His Majesty not only "incorporated" his crops but also "incorporated" him, making him a special person to grow grain for His Majesty's army.
When His Majesty was conquering the world, this "incorporation" was not necessarily a good thing. He was often worried that if he was not careful, his black head would be in danger.
Who knew that Your Majesty was truly lucky. Your Majesty first joined forces with the Prince of Yan to destroy the tyrannical previous dynasty, and then spent six years finally destroying the Prince of Yan. Thus, Your Majesty unified the world.
As for that piece of land that His Majesty took a liking to, if it weren't for that person, it wouldn't have been so lucky to be "incorporated" by His Majesty.
That year, when the green dragonflies were rampant, his millet and wheat were at a critical stage of growth, but they were ravaged by the green dragonflies, and it seemed that his hard-earned more than ten acres of crops were about to yield nothing.
One day, a man passing by stood by his field and saw him standing there dejectedly. He called out to him, "Old sir, don't be sad. I know a way to save your dozen or so acres of land. But, could you please give me and my daughter some water and some dry food?"
Sun Shan walked dejectedly to the edge of the field and saw the father and daughter. One of them was so thin from hunger that she looked emaciated, but her eyes were clear and bright, unlike those who were so hungry that their eyes gleamed like wild beasts, fierce and ravenous.
The little girl he was leading looked to be about five or six years old. She was quite chubby and cute, but her face was dirty, like a dumpling that had rolled in a pile of dirt. Her clothes were dusty, but without any patches.
He stood in the field and waved his hand, saying, "No one can do anything about this green dragon insect plague." Then he said to the two men, "Come with me."
He brought the father and daughter to his home, had his wife fetch two bowls of cold water, and gave them two millet cakes. "You fled from the north?"
The man said, "Yes, there's a real war going on in the north. I was fleeing with my daughter, planning to seek refuge with my brother-in-law, but alas, her mother is gone..."
The man took the cake but didn't take the cold water. He made a rather troublesome request: "Could you two please boil this water for me? Firstly, my daughter is young and can't drink cold water; secondly, there are many bacteria in this cold water, and drinking it might be bad for her health."
Judging from the appearance of the two men, Sun Shan figured that Qian, who had fled the famine, must be from a wealthy family and unaware of the hardships of ordinary people. Even though they were fleeing, he was still being particular. But as his name suggests, he was kind-hearted, and he still asked his wife to boil water.
He asked, puzzled, "What are these bacteria?" He had never heard of "bacteria" in all his years of life.
"Bacteria are a type of microorganism. Microorganisms are things that cannot be seen with the naked eye but still exist. They may be harmful or harmless to humans."
The father and daughter finished their wheat cakes with hot water. As they were leaving, the man said to him, "Old man, if you crush the fish vine into juice and mix it with water in a 3:1 ratio, sprinkle it on the ground. You'll be guaranteed to be free from those green dragon-like insects. By the way, there are corpses everywhere from the fighting outside. The rotting bodies will pollute the water source, so you should try to boil the water before drinking it."
After saying that, the man took his daughter's hand and left.
He was initially skeptical, but seeing how his dozen or so acres of land had been ravaged by green dragonflies, he thought he might as well give it a try, just in case it actually worked.
Unexpectedly, he actually managed to revive the horse, despite all his efforts.
His millet, which was about to be ravaged by green dragonflies, recovered within a few days after he watered it with vine juice. The number of green dragonflies gradually decreased, and the leaves that had been bitten off by the green dragonflies began to grow back.
Later, he told the whole village about this method, and the millet and wheat in the village grew very well!
That autumn, he and dozens of acres of land in his village were "chosen" by His Majesty. Later, after His Majesty ascended the throne, he appointed him as the magistrate of Taicang.
He initially refused, saying, "Your Majesty, my few acres of land are cultivated so well, it's all by luck. I dare not take on such a great responsibility."
His Majesty was quite approachable. He stroked his beard and said with a look of trust, "Hey, Grandfather Sun, you must know that good luck is something that can't be forced. If you can bring this luck to all the farmers of the Great Jin, why worry about them not having a good harvest?"
He took on the role of Taicang Magistrate, but he did it with utmost caution, for the task His Majesty had entrusted to him yesterday was truly of great importance.
He was very worried after returning home, so he waited at Sima Langjun's villa before dawn today.
Finally, a servant came out yawning and sweeping the floor. He stepped forward hesitantly and said, "Young man, I am the magistrate of Taicang under the Ministry of Agriculture. I have been ordered to see Mr. Li Shi. Please inform him of my presence."
The servant, holding a broom, saw the old man standing in the dim morning light, his face rough and his smile forced, making the wrinkles on his face appear smooth. If it weren't for his official robes, no one would believe he was a high-ranking official.
The servants dared not delay and hurriedly went to inform them.
When Qi Gu arrived at her father's courtyard, she found him completely drunk and unconscious. She shouldn't have taken him drinking yesterday; the Xinghua Village liquor was too potent, and her father had no self-control...
Looking at her father, who was fast asleep, Qi Gu said to the messenger, "Please lead the way, I will go to see the magistrate of Taicang on my father's behalf."
This young lady was the first one the young master had brought to the villa. The master treated the father and daughter with great courtesy, so naturally no one dared to disobey her.
As Qi Gu was about to leave, Hongyan and Honghu followed closely behind. Yesterday, the princess had walked so fast that they hadn't reacted in time and thus failed to keep up, which was already a great dereliction of duty. Today, they absolutely could not let the princess travel alone again.
Qi Gu felt uncomfortable with two tails following behind her, so she stopped and said to them, "You two can stay in the courtyard and help me... um, just watch my luggage. You don't need to follow me."
Hongyan muttered, "But young lady, your luggage is just a small bundle, nothing special." This is the residence of Sima Langjun, whose future is the brightest in the Great Jin Dynasty. Who would want her tattered belongings?
Hongyan said, "Indeed, someone should stay in the courtyard to watch over things. How about this, young lady, let Honghu stay in the courtyard, and I will accompany you. With your status, how can you travel alone?"
Qi Gu thought for a moment and nodded, "That works too."
Just as the magistrate of Taicang took a sip of hot tea, he saw a young woman dressed in coarse cloth shorts, but with her hair styled in the fashionable way that was popular among women in the capital at the time, walk in.
This girl had a round face, wheat-colored skin, and a pair of bright, grape-like eyes. She looked very familiar; they felt as if they had seen her somewhere before.
The young woman walked in briskly, stood still, and bowed, saying, "Lord Taicang."
"Who are you?"
Qi Gu said, "I am Li Shi's adopted daughter. My servant came to report that you were looking for my father, but he was quite drunk yesterday. I was afraid he would cause trouble, so I came to apologize on his behalf."
"No, no, it's because I'm anxious to ask Mr. Li to go and see the imperial fields. His Majesty gave a strict order yesterday, demanding that our Taicang Division increase the yield by two levels. Miss Qi, I know it's still early, but I'm in a hurry."
The man from Taicang had a dark brown face covered with wrinkles. His mouth was slightly protruding, and his white eyebrows, with the ends reaching his temples, drooped on both sides, making him look even more helpless.
"The growth of millet and wheat in and around the capital is worrying. The imperial fields are a little better, but not by much. Sima Langjun said that when Mr. Li was in the countryside, the millet and wheat he planted yielded 20 to 30 percent more than in other places. I would like to ask if that is true?"
“Yesterday, my father and I went to the outskirts of the city to check on the millet and wheat fields. The situation is indeed not very good. Since you have come today, my father’s point is that there is no way to make use of the millet and wheat fields planted this year. However, next spring, the millet and wheat seeds planted cannot be the same as before.”
"Does the Lady of the Lacquer mean that the key to increasing income is the seed issue, and not other issues?"
"Yes and no. Whether the land is fertile and what kind of plants are suitable for planting are also important, but even the most fertile soil cannot produce plump ears of rice from barren seeds."
Although Sun Shan was already the magistrate of Taicang, he still did everything himself, which is why his dark brown skin deepened year by year. So, when he said he knew nothing, he was just being modest.
Upon hearing Aunt Qi's words, his aged eyes shone with a light beyond his years, and he hurriedly stepped forward to ask, "Aunt Qi's words truly make this old man ashamed. It seems that Aunt Qi has inherited Mr. Li's mantle. However, the imperial fields that I supervise cultivate are planted with the best seeds, yet the harvest is not much different from that of ordinary people."
Qi Gu recalled the knowledge her father had taught her. When she first started working in the fields with her father, he would stand by the field and explain things to her, but she was still completely confused.
Over the next seven or eight years, she finally came to understand, step by step, the Mendel theory that her father had spoken of back then through practice.
After summarizing what she had learned from her father over the years in her own words, Qi Gu told the Taicang magistrate, whose eyes were full of thirst for knowledge:
“My father once said that humans and animals are like begets like. A mouse’s son knows how to dig holes. If you want your child to be good-looking, both the boy and the girl must be born well. If you want your child to be smart, both of them must be smart. Plants are similar, but they are also different. However, if you want to produce high-yield millet seeds, you also need two suitable seeds.”
Qi Gu spoke in detail, and Sun Shan listened intently, not noticing the two shadows, and quietly stopped outside the door.
Her words were simple and straightforward, but they hit the nail on the head, making it easy for people to understand the key points. Taicang Ling quickly grasped the meaning behind her words.
Sun Shan's bitter expression had disappeared; his eyebrows were no longer drooping, and the corners of his eyes were slightly upturned. "So, as long as you choose two high-yield millet and wheat varieties and plant them together, you can get high-yield seeds?"
Qi Gu shook her head with a wry smile. When she first heard what her father had said, she naively thought it was a simple matter. But her father said that seed hybridization was a huge project.
“It’s not that simple. My father and I studied together for nearly ten years, and we only managed to cultivate one type of millet. My father said that it is very difficult to cultivate a perfect millet variety.” In fact, my father’s original words were not “very difficult” but rather “almost impossible.”
She once asked her father why it was impossible. Her father looked at the horizon with a distant gaze and said, "Because of the times. This era did not have experimental equipment, not even a basic microscope. So I have theories, but many things cannot be put into practice despite the times."
She never understood what her father meant. Was it the era? The experimental equipment? The microscope?
She had too many questions. Her father patted her head and said, "Aunt Qi, if you were my student, you would definitely be an excellent student. But it doesn't matter. I'm now making you my last disciple, hahaha!"
Sun Shan's eyes were wide open like a thirsty fish, waiting to receive knowledge from the woman before him. "Lady Qi, does this mean you already have seeds that can increase the millet and wheat harvest by 20%?"
Qi Gu shook her head and then nodded, "No." Sun Shan's eyes were about to dim with disappointment when Qi Gu said, "But my father and I already know which two types of millet and wheat can be hybridized to increase yield. Although it's not very stable, as long as the experimental seedlings this year are successful, we can verify our hypothesis. We can plant these two types of millet and wheat seedlings next year, and then we can pollinate them. I think increasing yield shouldn't be a problem."
Taicang Ling didn't understand what hybridization, instability, or pollen sweeping meant, nor did he know what experimental seedlings were. However, he was very good at grasping the key points. He forgot that he had only just met the girl in front of him and excitedly grabbed Qi Gu's wrist, "Is what Miss Qi Gu said true!"
Behind Qi Gu, a voice rang out, "She really is my last disciple. Good! She has made rapid progress in the past ten years. I think even without me, our Qi Gu can stand on her own."
Behind him, Sima Hong stared at her with admiration in his eyes, but also with a kind of inquiry that she couldn't understand.
[Author's Note]
This chapter is Qi Gu's highlight! It's also the one that perfectly captures the theme, and you could say it's the "golden finger" I gave Qi Gu, hahaha.
Li Shi: I am Qi Gu's glittering "hanger" [sunglasses]
Qi Gu: Supervisor, has my graduation thesis been approved?
Li Shi: Your graduation thesis was eaten by the pigs raised by the students in the animal science department next door, so you're going to have to postpone your graduation!
Qi Gu: Male Mom, please love me one more time and let me pass!
I revised this today, and I forgot to mention something: the fish vine juice mentioned in this chapter is real, but the claim that it can cure green dragonflies is false. Green dragonflies are something I made up. Of course, the amazing hybridization technology is real, but millet is fake; it's also a plant I made up. Mendel's theory is also real, but everything else is fake. In short, it's just some basic research and then fabricated. So, if any agricultural experts see this, please don't take it seriously. Please be gentle with your criticism. Of course, this is a rather unpopular piece, so probably no experts will read it, but I'm still issuing a disclaimer, hahaha [facepalm and crying emoji]
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